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Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Blog tour: Oliver Twisted by JD Sharpe (and Charles Dickens)

I thought today I might share with you something a little different and break my Love month up with a little gore! It is my great pleasure today to take part in the Oliver Twisted blog tour. Oliver Twisted is a fun retelling of the Charles Dickens classic but with added horror. I think it is a great combination I really do.

Today JD Sharpe is sharing with us her favourite scene from the book. Do stay and watch the fantastic video of that scene being read aloud, it is wonderful!

“FLESH, the woe-begotten moaned at Oliver, baring teeth which were ragged and black.

“FLESH,” came another moan, and he turned to see two more woe-begottens behind. They began to shuffle towards him, barefoot – toes blue from cold, arms outstretched.

The world according to Oliver Twisted is simple. Vampyres feed on the defenceless. Orphans are sacrificed to hungry gods. And if a woe-begotten catches your scent it will hunt you for ever. When a talking corpse reveals that Oliver will find his destiny in London, he sets out to seek the truth. Even if it means losing his soul.

I’ve chosen the scene where Oliver, bowl in hand, asks for more because it was such a joy and terror to write!

Everyone knows this scene in Oliver Twist. It doesn’t matter if you’ve read the book or not, this moment is part of the fabric of our collective consciousness. So when I came to write it, I felt that I had a real responsibility to do a good job!

In the original book, Oliver is forced to ask for more because he has drawn the shortest stick. In Oliver Twisted, it is Oliver’s conscience and fear for the souls of the boys around him that forces him to act.

His friends are starving. In fact they are being starved deliberately so that they might become desperate and evil. You see, it is only when their souls have become dark and twisted that the Brotherhood of Fenris, who owns the workhouse, can sacrifice a child to their wolf god. Oliver knows that if does not get food for his friends they will turn on each other, maybe even eat each other.

It is the first time we really begin see the hero that Oliver Twisted could be. However, to find out whether Oliver will remain good you’ll just have to read the book and see . . .

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Me Me Me

I've been running my book blog, Fluttering Butterflies, for the past (nearly) 9 years and have recently taken up booktubing on my own channel, cloveryness, as well as collaboratively with the Bookish Brits.